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i UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE. N

R. `n."EAETnETT, E asistieron,` MAINE.

MAcnrNE `EOE MAKING BEIcxs.

i Specification of Letters Patent No.\11,465, dated Augiust, 1854.

i To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, R. D. BAETLETT, of

Bangor, in the county of Penobscot and State of Maine, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in `Machines for Making Bricks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, Ina-king part of this specication, in which- Figure l is a plan ofimy machine. Fig. 2, a side view, the driving gear being indicated by red lines. section upon the line X, X, of Fig. 1. Fig.

4, a transverse section upon the line Y, Y, of`

3. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, views of detached portions of the machine which will be referred to hereafter.`

Bricks have heretofore been made ofclay in one or the other of two `opposite states; either tempered, or kneaded with water, until itwas made very plastic and pliable,

or else thoroughly dried and reduced t0` powder. .i In the `former case the bricks, when i'irst molded, `contain so much water, that it is necessary to spread them upon "carefully prepared iioors to dry,before they can be disposed of in sheds: the expense of this part of the process is considerable, and the bricks made from clay thus tempered are rendered porous and deficient in strengthby the evaporation of the large quantity of water whichthey contain. Furthermore it is not found practicable to submit them to any considerable degree of pressure, when they are frstwmade. Where it is desired therefore to produce superior bricks, either as regards beauty of exterior or density of body; after being molded as above of plastic clay they aresu'ered to dry by exposure to the air for several days and are again passed through another machine` by which they are submitted to great pressure in polished iron or steel molds, and are thus rendered smooth upon the surface and of dense texture; this is however quite expensive and is a process never adopted except orthe best face bricks. Where dry clay is made use of it is allowed to desiccate either in the sun or under cover, and is then ground to powder, and forced, under great pressure,

i into molds of polished iron or steel. Bricks thus made may be carried direct from the mold to the kiln, and considerable time and laboristhus economized. It is found, how- Fig. 3, a `longitudinal` be made by this process.

Machines for making bricks have heretofore been contrived to operate upon clay in one or other of these two states.

The object of my present invention is to make use of clay as it comes from the bank,

untempered and unground, `and .which is `free from the excessive moisture of tempered clay and from the air contained in the pores of that which is dry and powdered; and my invention consists in a peculiarly contrived and constructed machine, by the use of which I am enabled to make use of clay in the stit and compact state in which it comes from the bank, without tempering, grinding or preparation of any nature whatever,` and. to produce a `brick far stronger and more compact `than those made with tempered clay, and which may be carried directly from the mold to the shed, thus entirely` avoiding two heavy items of expense, the tempering l and otl'bearing, as well as the waste which occurs from exposure to `rain and other `casualties while upon the drying floor. The bricks, thus produced, are also entirely free from the objections to which those made from dry powdered clay are liable, as the stiifclay, as

`it is dug, is almost entirely free from air,

which is the occasion of the porous brittle nature of the dry clay bricks. T

To enable others skilled in theart to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the method which I have adopted of carrying it out.

A, is the trame work of the machine. B, the driving pulley. C, the main driving shaft. y

D, is a cogwheel upon the shaft C, which engages with the cogwheel E, upon the shaft F. Upon this shaft are placed all the cams which effect the different movements and operations of the machine.

I will first describe these movements and operations separately, and then give the general operation of the machine. The first of these operations in order, is that by which If Vnow a portion of clay which it is forced in a manner which willr now be explained'. Y

I, 1s a lever or squeezer of the for-m represented in Fig. 2, which is allowed to viupon the pivot K, the point c becomes its brate around a pivot a.

K, isa roller attached to the lever I, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, and which rests upon the camA L, as this cam revolves with the 'shaft F, to which it is secured, it alternately raises 'the lever I, into the position represented in blue in Fig. 2, and allows it to return into the position seen in Figs. 1 and 3. in the state in which it isl taken from the bank be thrown into the vhopper while the squeezer is in this latter position (Fig. 3,) it will be forced through the grating into the space beneath, as seen at M, Fig. 6, upon the next half .revolution of the cam L. Immediately beneath the grating I-I, is the mold N, seen in ,plan in Fig. 5, and in section in Figs. 3, L1,

6 and 7. Longitudinally'through the center of this mold slides the plunger P, which is shown in two extreme positions in Figs. 3

and 7; and detached in Fig. 9. This plunger is operated in the following manner, (Figs. l1, 3 and 7,). Q, It, is a double cam, the twqo parts Q and R being secured together. is a horizontal lever which slides in a standand T. The lever S is secured to the plunger P, and carries a roller W, against which the cam Q, operates, for the purpose of advancing the plunger and a projecting piece V, against which the cam R, operates' to retract the plunger.

The cam Q, is sof formed as to communicate two distinct mol tions to the plunger P, the one to give the 'treme positions in Figs. l3 and `6.

Figs. 1 and 2, are two shackle bars?, which vconnect the pivots o, d, vand thus aid, to preserve the lever B', in its proper posi-y tion. which serves as a bulkhead simultaneously to each of the molds. It is -connected with F', is a hollow rectangular prismI the shaft F, by the shackle bars G' and with the lever B', by 'the shackle bars H'.

Itf

will beperceived that these connections preven't the bulk head Ifrom yielding either hori- Zontally or vertically eXoept as it is governed by the motion of the parts with which it is connected. I', is a hole in the lever B', sufliciently large to give this lever considerable play round its pivot K'. It is evident that when the lever B", bears upon its, pivot K', as seen in Fig. 3, that this pivot becomes its center of motion and the parts C', F',

.move together.; when, however the lever B',

is raised, as seen in Fig. 6, so as not to bear ycenter of motion and the plunger C', and

the bulkhead F', have a motion with respect to each other. a

Where clay is used in the state in which lI employ i't 1n this machine there is a great to the o'ttom plunger and bulkhead C', F",

land connected with the main steam pipe K' by stuffing boXes; by this means a current of steam is admitted to the interior of the plunger and bulkhead, and they are kept at the requisite temperature to prevent the ladhesion of the clay.

Some method of gaging the quantity of clay required for each brick is very desirable; but no eflicient method of accomplishing this has ever been devised with which I am acquainted. In the dry clay machines particularly there was a liability to constant variation in the amount of clay fed yto the molds. I have succeeded yin accomplishing this -in the most perfect manner, and lin ,gaging accurately the quant-ity of clay for to pass, 1and while, as is evident, the pres-- sure must be very great before untempered clay will be forced out of this opening, it is also evident that when the pressure reaches a certain point which will be uniform, allr further motion of the plunger tends only to force the clay out through thel opening in v'the mold. A uniform pressure is thus secured upon each brick, the bricks all containing a uniform amount of clay. The

clay, crude and untempered, is thrown into the 'hopper in small quantities when the squeezer I, is .in the position represented in Figs. 1 and :3, land in black in Fig. 2; bythe revolution of the shaft F, and cam L, the squeezer :is thrown into the position seen in blue ingFig. 2, by which means the clay is forced l'through the grating into the space below, as seen at M, in Fig. 6. The plunger being withdrawn, as seen in Figs. 6 and time risen to the surface of the mold DQ The plunger T, now again advances and the brick is thrown forward onto theend of the` plunger C', the lever B', now begins to move in obedience to the cam groove in the disk W, and the plunger C', descendsinto the mold D', F', following it until it rests upon the top of the mold D; the point i, now becomes thefulcrum ofthe lever B', and the plunger C', commences to rise again compressing the bricks (b, Fig. 6,)` be-` tween it and the bulkhead F'; The roller A' now descends again in its cam groove, the first consequence of which isto raise the bulkhead F', from contact with the finished brick, the lever B', turning upon the point c, as a center; the lever B', then commences t0 bear upon its fulcrum K', and the plunger C", is raised and with it the finished brick, ready to be taken out ofthe machine. The operations then succeed each other as before. The squeezer I, descending into the hopper, the plunger advancing to give the preliminary pressure to a brick, and the final pressure being given to another brick,

\ each time the shaft F, revolves.

I-Iaving thus `described my invention, what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. Making bricks of crude, untempered and unground clay by the' means herein described, or by any other means substantially equivalent thereto.

2. I claim the manner herein described of forcing the clay in the state in which it is dug through the grating H, in small `quantities at a time, by which means it 1s freed from the stones which it may contain, and prepared to be acted upon by the plunger, in the manner set forth.

3. The method of accurately gaging the quantity of clay in `each brick, and of submitting them all to a uniform pressure, by

means of the hole in described.

4. The manner of arranging and operating the `bulkhead F', by which it is enabled to assist simultaneously inthe formation of two bricks, one in each mold.

5. The combination of the bulkhead F, and the plunger C', with the lever B', constructed and arranged as described, the lever having sufficient play `upon its v`fulcrum to enable it to operate in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

6. I claim `making the parts of the mold hollow, and heating them with steam in the :Ifnanner described and for the purpose set orth.

the side of the mold as R. D. BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

S. Gr. B. Cooivnss, DANL. I-IINCKLY. 

